Garment pressing machine



March 17, 19361 H. G. BEEDE 2,034,279

GARMENTPRESSING MACHINE I Filed Aug. 12, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet l a ma. 29

I N VEN TOR. 2 flewbefiifleeak BY M ATTORNEYS.

March 17, 1936. BEEDE 2,034,279

GARMENT PRES S ING MACHINE Filed Aug. 12, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 INVENTOR. /7e/' e7 7 f/fie ecie A TTORNEYS.

March 17,1936. BEEDE- GARMENT PRESSING MACHINE 5 Shets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 12, 1951 INVENTOIE. fiez efif 56 A TTORNEYS.

March 17, 1936. G. BEEDE 2,034,279

GARMENT PRESS ING MACHINE Filed Aug. 12, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 4v INVENTQR V fi ez'ber f 6'- fleede 26M414 ATTORNEY March 17, 1936. H. G 55555 2,034,279

GARMENT PRESS ING MACHINE Filed Aug. 12, 1931 s Sheets-Sheet 5 m .ul ll :0 82 87 9 85 85 ji fy 74 rFh War INVEN TOR. //67 5@7 i' fleede BY GUM A TTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 17,1936

UNITED STS PATENT OFFICE GARMENT ranssmo Maonmn Herbert G. Beetle, Pawtucket, a. 1.

Application August 12, 1931, Serial No. 556,694

2 Claims. (01. 74-539) My invention relates to garment pressing machines such as are used in tailoring, dry cleaning, laundering and. similar establishments for either in combination with the means for effecting closing of the press or by independent means operable from convenient points by the hand or foot of the operator.

All of the objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and will be referred to during the course of the following detail description of the accompanying drawings wherein are shown preferred embodiments of the invention and in which Fig. l is a side plan view of a pressing or ironing machine with the invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail side view showing the form of latching mechanism illustrated in Fig. l with parts in section;

Fig. 3 is a view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a treadle operated release for. the latch;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail side view showing the latching and releasing means illustrated in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view on the line 68 of Fig. 5;

Fig. Us a side elevation of a portion of a pressing machine with parts in section showing another form of the invention applied thereto;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the releasing mechanism;

'Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a pressing or ironing machine showing another form of the invention .applied thereto;

Fig. 10 is a side plan ioreshortened view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 6 with slight modifica.

Referring to Figs. 1-3 of the drawings, the nu- V meral l designates a supporting frame of a garment pressing or ir'oning machine having a lower pressing element or buck II and an upper able frame I3 pivoted at ll to the frame. The arm I3 is' actuated by a series of toggles indicated generally at A and connected at IE to the pedal lever l6 which is pivoted on the frame III at; H. The pedal lever i6 projects forwardly beyond the frame and has applied to its outer end of a foot pedal I! which is pivoted at [8 to the lever 16. The inner face of the pedal II abuts the outer end of the lever l6 at l9, being swingable on pivot l8 upwardly therefrom, but when downward pressure is applied to the pedal it will abut the lever at l9 and move the same downwardly. A latch is pivoted at 2| between the rocking levers 22 which are secured to the frame at 23 to one side of the lever l6. 16 The rocking levers 22 are separatedby a spacer block 24 at one end of which is mounted a compression spring 25. The upper end of the compression spring is engaged by the projection 28 onthe latch so that the spring maintains con- 20 stant pressure on the latch urging it to move forwardly. An adjusting screw is connected to the rod 28, the lower end of which has screw threaded engagement at 29 with therocking levers 22 so that the vertical position of the latch may be altered at will.

A lug or bolt 30 is carried by the lever 18 and extends across the front of the latch 20, the latch being provided with a shoulder 3| to engage over the lug 30 and with a curved face32 30 against which the lug rides when.the lever l6 moves upwardly. The curved face 32 is preferably formed in an arc corresponding to the are described by the lug 30 during the swinging movement of the pedal lever l8.

It should be apparent from the'i'oregoing, that the toggle mechanism A is operated to move the pressing head l2 down to the buck II by pressure exerted by the foot on the pedal l'l. As the lever l6 moves downwardly, the extension 30 rides 40 against the face 32 until it has passed the end thereof at which time the spring 25 will throw the latch 20 forwardly to position the shoulder 3| over the top of the extension 30 thus locking the head against the buck ii. The toggle mechanism is released to return the head l2 to open position simply by pushing or kicking the latch 32 back so that the extension 30 will be disengaged from under the shoulder 3| and can ride'upwardly on the arcuate face 32.

Referring to Figs. 4-6, the machine and latching mechanism is the same as that shown in Figs. 1-3 but there is provided in connection there with, releasing mechanism operable by the same pedal which serves to close the machine. In this .55

form of the invention a special foot treadle lever I6 is provided having bearings 33 to which the treadle 34 is pivotally connected intermediate its ends as indicated at 35. The lever I6 has on its upper face a stop 36 against which the treadle 34 is normally held by gravity as shown in the drawings. The foot treadle 34 has a rearwardly extending lug or projection 31 at one end beneath the lower end 38 of the crank lever which-is pivotally connected to the lever l6 at 39. The upper end of the crank lever carries a roller or bumper 48 adjacent the arcuate face 32 of the latch 20.

The apparatus shown in Figs. 4-6, is operated as follows. Pressure on the treadle 34 between the pivot 35 and the projection 31, which may conveniently be'applied by the ball of the foot, will move the lever I6 down until the projection 38 engages under the shoulder 3| to lock the head in'closed position as described in connection with Figs. 1-3. Pressure on the end of the foot treadle 34 beyond pivot 35, which may conveniently be applied by the heel of the foot, will tip the'treadle back so that the projection 31 will raise the end 38 of the crank lever and partly rotate the crank lever urging roller or bumper 40 against the arcuate face 32 to move the shoulder 3| of the latch from engagement with the projection '30 to permit the lever i6 to move upwardly.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, the latch or locking mechanism is the same as described above but the manually operated latch releasing mechanism is designed for use with foot treadles which do not function to open the press, the foot treadles being either detachable or formed integral with the pedal lever l6". In this form of the invention the latch 20 is provided with a lug or lateral extension 45 through which the release mo tion is transmitted to the latch from a lever 46 operated from a point adjacent the table 41 which. it will be understood, is mounted on the frame l6 adjacent the buck.

A bracket 48 is mounted on the frame and held in place by screws 49. The lever 46 is pivotally connected at 50 to bracket 48 and is provided with an extension 5| which acts as a stop to downward movement of the lever 46 by abutting the bracket 48. The outer end 52 of the lever 46 is hook shaped for engagement by the fingers of the operator and is located approximately in alinement with the front edge of the press table and a short distance therebelow. The press table is cut away at 53 to allow for insertion of a plate 54 which is held to the press table by the screws 55. The plate is provided with a forwardly projecting portion 56 to accommodate th thumb of the operator.

A rod 51 is connected to the lever 46 intermediate the pivot 50 and hooked end 52 at 58 and to the trip crank 59 which is pivotally con nected at 60 to bracket 6| which is mounted on an extension 23' of the pivot for the locking levers 22'. The bracket 6| is prevented from rotation by the set screw 62 or other means engaging between the extension 23 and bracket 6|. The upper endof the trip crank 58 is disposed in alinement with or in abutting engagement with the extension 45 when the press is in closed position as shown in Fig. 7 and the shoulder 3| of the latch 20' is moved from engagement with the lug 30 to permit opening of the press by operation of the lever 46', it being understood that the latch has been moved to locked position in the same manner as described in connection with Figs. 1-5.

When the operator presses down with his foot on the treadle 63 which is shown as an integral of part of the pedal leveri6" the lug 38 is brought down along the front face of the latch 20' until it has passed the lower end thereof at which time the latch moves forwardly so that the shoulder 3 engages over the lug 30' as shown in Fig. '7. To open the press the operator places his right thumb on the extension 56 of the plate 54 and places his fingers or forefinger under the hooked end 52 of the lever 46 which is raised by a squeezing action between thumb and forefinger. As the lever 46 moves upwardly it exerts a pullthrough rod 51 onthe end of crank 58 turning the same on pivot 68 so that the upper end of the crank presses against the extension or lug 45 thus moving the latch 20 backwardly until the shoulder 3| is moved from engagement with the lug 38'. After the latch has been released the operator merely withdraws his fingers from the hook 52 so that the lever 46 will move downwardly under the action of gravity until the extension 5| abuts the bralcket 48 at which time the releasing mechanism is in position to again release the latch 28 after the press has been 'of the machine, are of substantially the same construction and arrangement as the machines shown in Figs. 1 and 4; The closing movement of the head I 2 is initiated by pressure on the treadle 10 which may be an integral part of the foot pedal lever as shown in Fig. 9 or a detachable treadle like that shown in Fig. 1. The operating lever carries the projecting lug II which corresponds to the lug 30 for engagement under the shoulder of the keeper 12 to lock the press closed. Instead of the arrangement of the compression spring to urge the keeper 1! forward, I have shown the keeper as provided with a counterbalancing weight 13 which tends to move the keeper forward by swinging movement on pivot 14 extending through the rocking levers 15 which are adjustable by means ofthe screw 21 as described in connection with Figs. 1-3. The keeper 12 is also'provided with a projection or laterally extending lug 16 which is disposed in front of the .upper end of the crank lever 11 pivoted at 18 to the releasing pedal 18, which as shown in Fig. 10, is-pivoted to the frame at 86 and has at its inner end a counter-balancing weight 8 which tends to maintain the pedal in substantially hori- 'zontal position with the stop 8| on the lever abutting the horizontal portion on the frame ID. The movement of the lug 1| under the shoulder of the keeper 12 is effected in the same manner as described in connection with the other figures, it being understood that the counter-balancing weight 13 tends to keep the forward face of the keeper against the projection 'Il until the projection has reached the lower end of the face, at which time the keeper will be thrown forward by the weight to engage over the projection; The keeper is'moved out of locking engagement with the projection II by means of the crank lever 11 which operates in the manner described in connection with the crank 59 of Figs. 78, under the action of mechanism now to be described.

To the upper front portion of the frame III, the bracket 82 is secured by bolts 83. The bracket has upstanding lugs 84 between which is pivoted the hand lever 85 which comprises a stop 86 to engage the front of the bracket 82 and an outwardly extending shank with the finger hook 81 at its forward end. The plate 54 is secured to the front of the table 41' and has the thumb rest 56'. The lever 85 is connected at 88 to the rod 89 which has its other end connected to this crank lever 11 at 90.

In Fig. 10, I have shown the same arrangement as in Fig. 9 with the exception of the hand lever 9| which is of the same construction and arrangement as that shown and described in Fig. 7. Also in Fig. 10, I have indicated the connection 90 as A, the pivot" of the crank lever as B, and the upper end of the crank lever as C,

and in connection with the description of the operation about to be given, reference may conveniently be had to Fig. 10.

The parts are moved to locked position when the treadle lever 10 is depressed so that the extension H is brought low enough for the latch 12 to move forwardly on pivot H under the action of counterweight 13. To release the latch the operator 'may place his thumb over the projection 56 with his fingers under the hook on the lever 85 or 9| and raise the lever so that the rod pulling at point A will rock the crank lever on its pivot B to move theend C against the projection 16 to move the latch 12 back until the shoulder is clear of the projection II.

It will be noted that the crank lever functions as a lever of the first class when release is effected through the hand lever rrcm above as the effort is applied at A and the fulcrum is at 3 between the point where the eflort is applied and the point C where the power is transmitted.

The latch may also be released by depressing the foot pedal i9 which causes the crank lever to act as a. lever of the third class for it then fulcrums at A, receives the power at B and transmits the power at C to move the latch 32 out of engagement with the extension 76.

I claim:

1. Latching mechanism for the operating lever of garment presses and the like, comprising a pivoted latch having a portion disposed beside the operating lever, a projection on the lever, means normally urging said portion of the latch into engagement with said projection, said latch having a recess to receive the projection when the lever is moved to close the press, a tiltable treadle on the actuating lever, and a crank lever pivotally mounted between said treadle and latch, the treadle having a portion to engage one end of the crank lever to move the crank lever against the latch to release the projection from the recess to permit opening of the press.

2. Latching mechanism for foot operated levers of garment presses and the like comprising, a latch, cooperating elements on the latch and foot lever engageable by movement of the foot lever in one direction to hold the foot lever against return movement, a tiltable treadle on the foot lever, and a crank lever pivotally mounted between said treadle and latch, the treadle having a part engageable with the crank lever to cause the latter to disengage said elements to permit. 

